Surprise
by maythestarsgiveyouhope
Summary: A still 14-year-old Danny pays his sister a Halloween visit.


Just a fun short thing for Halloween. :)

I don't own Danny Phantom.

Danny took in a breath and knocked on the front door of his older sister's house. It had been a while since he last visited, and he was sure that he was going to hear about it. Hence, why he was actually knocking at the door instead of just phasing right in. He had, however, made sure that his sister was home alone. Her husband had left for work a few hours earlier, and she did not have any friends over either. The baby was upstairs, asleep, but Danny thought he would not mind if he got to spend a little time with his nephew. Socializing with anyone else felt like a real drag, however.

Danny heard his sister's footsteps as she approached the front door. There was a pause as, he supposed, she checked the peep hole. He heard Jazz squeal as she swung the door open once she realized it was him.

"Danny!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. Danny smiled as she embraced him. His older sister was kind of a dork, but he loved that she still got excited to see him. He would never admit that to her, though.

"Hey, Jazz," He said, smiling. "How are you?"

Jazz released him from the hug and brushed her hair out of her face. She seemed somewhat frazzled, but he guessed a surprise family visit could do that to any new mother. "I'm good, I think. I'm kind of exhausted to be honest. Asher has been keeping me up half the night." She smiled, looking upstairs where the nursery was. Her fatigue clearly showed on her face, but she seemed to be managing fairly well, all things considered.

"Yeah, that's what I would have guessed," Danny chuckled. "So, how are you adjusting to your new parental role?"

Jazz rolled her eyes at his attempts to mimic her psychology vocabulary. She gestured that they could move back to the living room, where they would be more comfortable. "I think I'm doing alright. I'll be honest, it's kind of overwhelming and I'm worried about making any mistakes. I mean, I've read all the books on parenting and I've studied child psychology for so long. I don't know, I think I'm worried that application and theory might just be too difficult to combine for me." Jazz admitted, easing down onto the couch.

"Oh, whatever, Jazz," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "Haven't you been working with children and parents in therapy for a while now?"

"Well, yes," Jazz allowed. "But I think it's different whenever it's your own child. I don't know." She shrugged.

Danny smiled at his sister. "I think you're giving yourself a hard time, Jazz. You're an amazing sister, and I know you're going to be an amazing mom."

Jazz smiled. "Thanks, Danny. So, what inspired you to come visit me? It's been… What, three months?"

"Yeah, about that long." Danny agreed. "It's Halloween. Seemed like a visit from your ghostly younger brother was appropriate."

"Oh, ha ha, Danny," Jazz smacked him playfully. "Seriously, though. You hardly ever visit anymore. I guess I thought… I thought that you would get lonely." Jazz eyed him sympathetically.

Danny shrugged. "Well, I do… But I don't want to interrupt your life all the time. I've visited Sam and Tuck, too, and I've been exploring with Dani. Things haven't been bad or anything."

"Okay," Jazz nodded. "I just don't think you should be isolating yourself. I'm glad you have Dani." She smiled.

"Yeah, me too," Danny said. If he was honest with himself, he had not spent as much time with Dani recently. She had her own life, too, and had decided to start trying to get an education. He did not want to bother her all the time just because he did not have anything to do. He was not going to tell Jazz that, however.

"You know, you really aren't interrupting my life when you come to visit," Jazz said, her features twisting into one of firmness, as if she was preparing to lecture him. "You've never come by when Jared's home. You don't have to avoid him."

Danny laughed sarcastically. "Right, Jazz. How would we explain that? 'Oh hey, Jared! This is Danny, my brother. I know you thought he was dead, but turns out, that's only half true! Funny, right?'" Danny leaned back into the couch, adopting a scowl. The expression made him look even more like a teenager than he already did.

"Oh, Danny," Jazz rolled her eyes. "We wouldn't even have to tell him you're my brother. I could say that you're one of my clients and that you needed to stay for a few days."

"Right, because that totally is in line with your code of ethics or whatever," Danny said.

"Okay, I guess that could raise some questions about the ethicality of my practice," Jazz looked up, thinking through possible solutions. "I could say that you're a potential babysitter for Asher. That way you could come around more often and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. I could even say I want to spend time with you to see how you are with Asher. So, you wouldn't only be able to come when Jared and I have a date or something."

Danny nodded noncommittally, but otherwise did not respond.

"You could… You could still tell Mom and Dad, you know. They've been… They still haven't given up looking for you." Jazz suggested.

"No," Danny said decisively. "There's just too much to tell now, Jazz. That moment has passed. It's better to… It's better to let them grieve."

"They're not really grieving, though." Jazz broached. "They're still… Last time I talked to them, they were still convinced that they could find you."

"It's been eleven years. It's too late."

Danny's tone did not leave any room to argue. Jazz did not want to give up, but did not want to chase her brother away after he had finally visited her again. The silence between them grew. Jazz fiddled with her hair as she looked at her still fourteen younger brother, trying to think of what to say. She opened her mouth a couple times, but nothing seemed quite right. She felt like she had just reminded him of his isolation, caused by his halted aging.

Danny pulled himself forward, apparently making the decision to pretend that everything was fine. "So, are you dressing Asher up as anything tonight?"

Jazz beamed. "Yes, actually! Do you want to see?"

"Yeah, definitely," Danny replied, smiling at his sister's enthusiasm. Sometimes she was more like their father than she realized.

"Okay!" Jazz exclaimed. She bounced off of the couch and bounded up the stairs to get her son. Danny grinned and waited for her to come back.

Luckily, he did not have to wait long. Jazz came downstairs, Asher in her arms. The newborn was dressed, non-surprisingly, as a ghost. Jazz's pride and excitement seemed to push away any traces of fatigue in her face. Danny had never seen a happier mother.

"Oh, he's adorable," Danny said, smiling at his nephew's little face. The baby, miraculously, was still asleep. Danny wondered if he had woken up while Jazz changed him, or if he had already been in the costume.

"Do you want to hold him?" Jazz asked, lifting Asher slightly in her arms.

"R-really?" Danny asked, surprised.

"Yeah, really, duh!" Jazz exclaimed. "You're his Uncle Danny."

"O-okay," Danny said, hesitantly. He had never held a baby before in his life, but before he knew it, Jazz had gently placed his young nephew in his arms. He gazed down at Asher, amazed by the fact that he had the chance to hold the newest member of his family. He had given up hope of meeting him, let alone hold him. He smiled, and looked up at Jazz, who was absolutely beaming at the site of the two of them. Danny reveled in the peace and happiness he felt in that moment.

That moment, however, did not last long. The door burst open with such as force that it bounced off the wall, as Jack and Maddie Fenton came rushing into the room. "Jazzy-pants!" Jack exclaimed. "Where's our Ashy-washy?"

The duo came prancing towards the living room, clearly overjoyed at the thought of seeing their grandson. Asher, for his part, had finally woken up and had begun wailing at the sudden increase in volume. Danny had frozen. As soon as his parents turned the corner and he came into their line of sight, they too froze in shock at the sight of their unchanged son.

Finally, his mother found her voice. "D-Danny?!"

Danny's lip quirked up slightly. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." He said, weakly.

Perhaps Halloween had not been the best day to visit, after all.


End file.
